Q: How Could Saruman have Defeated Sauron’s Much Larger Army?
ANSWER: This is not the exact question I was asked. In fact, I was asked several questions, but the idea of pitting Saruman against Sauron is one that has fascinated J.R.R. Tolkien’s readers for many years. Who would win? Also, was it a foregone conclusion that Sauron would have attacked Saruman (or vice versa) had Rohan and Gondor not survived the assaults they launched against those lands in 3019? Let us begin by looking at who the major players were and what their objectives were.
Gandalf was the chief architect of the strategy that finally defeated Sauron. He was not instrumental in defeating Saruman at all, although had he not reported Saruman’s treason to the Council of Elrond Merry and Pippin would not have been able to confirm for Treebeard and the Ents that Saruman really was an enemy who should be confronted. Gandalf’s mission was to find a way to help Elves, Dwarves, and Men unite against Sauron and overthrow him. His weapon of opportunity was the One Ring itself, which contained most of Sauron’s power.
Sauron was the most powerful being living in Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age. But his power was divided between his primary focal point (his “core” spirit, if you will) and the One Ring, which he had made to hold the vast majority of his power. When he wore the One Ring Sauron had a much more powerful will that he could use to daunt and dominate large numbers of Middle-earth’s inhabitants. Entire armies obeyed him. But there was a limit to his power. When Ar-Pharazôn brought a huge army to Middle-earth, Sauron’s followers deserted him. This point has seldom been raised among Tolkien’s fans, but the sight of the full armed might of Numenor was more terrifying to Sauron’s armies than the Dark Lord himself.
In the Third Age Sauron was separated from the Ring. And that meant he could not use the majority of his native strength to dominate the wills of other creatures. Hence, he spent two thousand years building up his forces, dividing his enemies, and wearing down the Numenorean kingdoms in Middle-earth (that opposed him).
Rohan was the only remaining ally for Gondor by the time of the War of the Ring. Its 12,000-man strong army, the Muster of Rohan, was accounted the most powerful and effective cavalry force among the Free Peoples in the Third Age. But the Rohirrim were thrown into confusion and internal conflict by Grima Wormtongue, who was secretly working for Saruman. Grima almost kept Rohan inactive long enough for Saruman to launch his attack. Only Gandalf’s timely intervention and restoration of Theoden’s wits and willpower prevented the army of Isengard from marching all over Rohan.
Saruman was not just the leader of the Istari, he was also their “ring specialist”. Saruman took it upon himself to learn all that he could about the Rings of Power, including how they were made and what their uses were. It was “through the devices of Saruman” that the White Council (consisting of the chief lords of the Eldar and the Istari) was able to drive Sauron from Dol Guldur in 2941. What were these devices? Were they war-machines or were they perhaps specific uses of the native strengths of the Eldarin lords and Istari? I think Tolkien meant the latter. For example, if Saruman understood how Sauron was coercing the wills of the Men and Orcs who served him the White Council may have been able to disrupt Sauron’s control over his minions.
Gondor was the last free Numenorean realm to oppose Sauron. The Stewards of Gondor had limited resources and could not begin to match the power that Gondor had wielded thousands of years in the past. Nonetheless Gondor was the strongest free nation, commanding more than twice as many troops as Rohan (perhaps as many as three times the Muster of Rohan). Gondor had no knowledge of the One Ring’s whereabouts until it was too late; nonetheless, the One Ring was at the heart of Gondor’s strategy after Aragorn took command of Gondor and Rohan’s armies.
The chief power of the One Ring was command over other beings. Although the One Ring possessed all the abilities of the other Rings of Power, its sole purpose was to enhance Sauron’s ability to control the wills of other creatures. Sauron wanted to be stronger, comparable even to Morgoth.
Saruman’s Strategy: As it is revealed in the book, Saruman began to covet the One Ring for himself. Tolkien seems to suggest that Saruman (like Sauron before him) wanted to bring order to Middle-earth’s inhabitants for their own good, but that ultimately his desire to do so transformed into a desire to dominate lesser beings (as had happened with Sauron). “Nothing is evil in the beginning,” Gandalf said to Frodo Elrond said to Boromir. So once he realized that Isildur had probably lost the One Ring in the Anduin river, Saruman began looking for it.
He used all means possible to expand his knowledge, and that may be why he used the Palantir of Orthanc. Ultimately, Gandalf deduces for the reader, Saruman made (probably inadvertent) contact with Sauron, who possessed the Palantir of Minas Ithil. Sauron had the greater will (even without his ring) and he bent Saruman to his own purposes. But Saruman still schemed to take the One Ring for himself, and perhaps being partially overcome by Sauron through the Palantir may have stoked his resolution.
For Saruman, then, the only way to get out from under Sauron’s control was to find and take the One Ring for himself. In doing so he would “remove a great evil from Middle-earth” by depriving Sauron of most of his power, and that surely would have seemed good to Saruman in his now corrupted state of mind.
But taking the One Ring for himself would not be sufficient. He would have to master the Ring, force it to accept his own will, and it’s not clear he could have done that. But had Saruman wrested control of the One Ring from Sauron he would then have been able to use the Ring’s power just as Sauron had in the past: to blot out independent thought, to daunt the creatures of Middle-earth, to control the actions of legions of followers.
Armed with the power of the One Ring Saruman would easily have become the most powerful being in Middle-earth. His enemies would fear him, his servants would follow him blindly, and he would be able to affect the outcomes of all battles his forces waged. Tolkien reveals something of that ability to the reader in the passage where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli struggle to follow the Orcs who have taken Merry and Pippin:
At dusk they halted again. Now twice twelve leagues they had passed over the plains of Rohan and the wall of the Emyn Muil was lost in the shadows of the East. The young moon was glimmering in a misty sky, but it gave small light, and the stars were veiled.
‘Now do I most grudge a time of rest or any halt in our chase ‘ said Legolas. ‘The Orcs have run before us, as if the very whips of Sauron were behind them. I fear they have already reached the forest and the dark hills, and even now are passing into the shadows of the trees.’
Gimli ground his teeth. ‘This is a bitter end to our hope and to all our toil!’ he said.
‘To hope, maybe, but not to toil,’ said Aragorn. ‘We shall not turn back here. Yet I am weary.’ He gazed back along the way that they had come towards the night gathering in the East. ‘There is something strange at work in this land. I distrust the silence. I distrust even the pale Moon. The stars are faint; and I am weary as I have seldom been before, weary as no Ranger should be with a clear trail to follow. There is some will that lends speed to our foes and sets an unseen barrier before us: a weariness that is in the heart more than in the limb.’
‘Truly!’ said Legolas. ‘That I have known since first we came down from the Emyn Muil. For the will is not behind us but before us.’ He pointed away over the land of Rohan into the darkling West under the sickle moon. ‘Saruman!’ muttered Aragorn. ‘But he shall not turn us back! Halt we must once more; for, see! even the Moon is falling into gathering cloud. But north lies our road between down and fen when day returns.’
This was how Saruman impeded the progress of the Three Hunters with just his own power (enhanced by the Ring he had made). Without the One Ring to assist him, Sauron’s ability to daunt lesser wills was blunted. He failed to master Pippin completely when the Hobbit looked into the Palantir of Orthanc; he failed completely to defeat Aragorn (who had the strongest right to control the seeing stones), and he could not break Denethor’s will despite being able to demoralize and mislead him when they struggled through the Palantiri during the siege of Minas Tirith.
But these limitations should be viewed in the context of all else Sauron was able to do at the same time while engaging in these long-distance confrontations. He controlled many powerful armies, guided their movements and attacks, and “worked his magic” in all other ways (from controlling the weather to enhancing the frightening presence of the Nazgul). And those are just the things Tolkien described in any detail. The author implies (at the moment of Sauron’s defeat) that there is much, much else going on where Sauron’s powerful (but diminished) will was engaged across Middle-earth.
The Palantiri themselves may have shielded the users a little bit, if only because Sauron did not have the right to use them. He was not confronting stronger wills than his own, but rather forcing the stones to accept his presence within their network. Maybe if he had concentrated all his power on controlling users of the stones Sauron could have succeeded even against Aragorn, but he would have unravelled his extensive network of allies and fear-dominated servants.
The One Ring offered its true master an ability to control far more than Sauron was able to control directly at the end of the Third Age. In fact, in one passage Tolkien notes that Sauron was more personally powerful at the end of the Second Age than he was at the end of the Third Age, but more militarily powerful at the end of the Third Age than at the end of the Second Age. The One Ring was the metaphorical football of Middle-earth, the key to controlling the minds of Middle-earth’s armies.
All Saruman had to do was seize the Ring and master it.
Saruman without the Ring would not have been able to defeat Mordor’s armies. He would have played the role of lesser ally. He had already fallen into evil (his use of Orcs as servants is evidence of that, but also his deception of the White Council about what he knew or suspected of the One Ring’s history). Saruman would never have been accepted as ruler of Gondor or Rohan. He needed to conquer his enemies or support Sauron’s conquest. As an unreliable ally Saruman accepted the task of destroying Rohan, or at least preventing it from aiding Gondor. This fit into Sauron’s larger “divide and conquer” strategy. But it was also a way of playing for time. Saruman clearly used the “joint” mission with the Moria Orcs sent out in pursuit of the Fellowship as a cover for his own quest to seize the Ringbearer.
When Sauron sent his own Orcs to supervise the operation Saruman’s Orcs again played for time, but their situation changed once the Rohirrim became aware of the large company of Orcs travelling across the Emnet. Then Isengard became a safe haven for all if only because they had gone too far to ensure they could escape across Anduin. Saruman’s strategy unraveled with the pursuit, which may be why he showed up at the edge of Fangorn Forest the night after his Orcs had been slaughtered by Eomer’s men.
Without the One Ring Saruman could never hope to raise and control enough armies to defeat Sauron’s armies. He might, if he revealed himself in his full power, wage considerable destruction upon Middle-earth’s inhabitants. But the Valar had forbidden their emissaries from revealing themselves in forms of power and majesty. Despite having “gone off the reservation” Saruman may still have feared incurring the wrath of the Valar if he started moving mountains and opening up fiery chasms. He would have to abide by some of the “rules” in order not to attract yet more undue attention.
And if Saruman just unleashed his full fury on Sauron’s followers, then what would Sauron do in response? Gandalf’s battle with the Balrog is muted enough by isolation to seem relatively mild compared to what the Valar accomplished in the War of Wrath (over the course of nearly 50 years they destroyed most of Beleriand). A personal confrontation between ringless Saruman and ringless Sauron might have had a similar result: leaving both combatants dead. Gandalf was sent back with new strength and authority by Ilúvatar, but only Sauron could hope to return to life eventually if he and Saruman fought each other to death.
Saruman therefore needed the One Ring in all eventualities. At best he could be a semi-autonomous ally or servant of Sauron while the One Ring remained missing; at worst he would have had to comply with all of Sauron’s demands even if he retained his own free will, for he had cast his lot with the side of the Dark and could never hope to return to the Valar, whom he had betrayed.
UPDATE: I have made an effort to find the text I refer to above, where Tolkien compares the military power of Sauron at the end of the Third Age with his military power at the end of the Second Age and I am so far unable to find it, although I have mentioned it in passing in numerous contexts going back at least to 1998. In my March 2012 article “When Was Sauron at His Most Powerful?” I dealt with the question about Sauron’s personal power, not his military forces. There are a few places where characters in the story speak about Sauron’s overwhelming military strength during the War of the Ring (Gandalf states that there is no hope of a military victory). While it’s conceivable that I have misconstrued or conflated several passages into my own gloss, I remain convinced that there is such a passage but I cannot recall the exact words Tolkien used. Searching thousands of pages of text for a passage you cannot recall exactly is a bit like searching for a horcrux: it’s small and probably has some significance to something. I will do my best to update this article in the future.
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“In fact, in one passage Tolkien notes that Sauron was more personally powerful at the end of the Second Age than he was at the end of the Third Age, but more militarily powerful at the end of the Third Age than at the end of the Second Age.”
Did Sauron have more military power at the end of the Third Age than at the end of the Second Age, or did he have more military power *relative to his opponents*? My impression is that the Noldor were no longer a potent military force after the Second Age. The Tale of Years suggests that the power of the Dunedain in Gondor and Arnor waned considerably over the Third Age. I hadn’t heard that Sauron’s own military power increased in the Third Age, though it may be so.
I don’t think there is an acceptable answer to your question. People will read what Tolkien said in both ways. When I am feeling a little better I will look up the specific section and post it here. I think it was in Letters (unless someone beats me to it).
Michael,
In “Morgoth’s Ring”, the chapter “Myths Transformed” (pp. 394ff), Tolkien says that “Sauron was ‘greater,’ effectively, in the Second Age than Morgoth at the end of the First” because the latter had allowed much of his power to be dissipated in Arda itself; and because Sauron was, in effect, smarter than Morgoth, who descended into “nihilistic madness.” Tolkien continues, saying that (as your alluded to) “Sauron had, in fact, been very like Saruman and so still understood him quickly, and could guess what he would be likely to think and do, even without the aid of palantiri or of spies; whereas Gandalf eluded and puzzled him.’ ”
I cannot find the passage about Sauron being personally more powerful at the end of the Second Age, but militarily more so at the end of the Third. But that passage about Sauron being greater than Morgoth in the Second Age is indeed relevant.
However, in “Letters,” #246 (p. 332), Tolkien says that no mortal–not even Aragorn– could have withstood Sauron by wielding the Ring; and in fact he says that “of the others only Gandalf might be expected to master him.” Does that not undermine your argument about Saruman being able to wield the Ring?
No, Tolkien’s comment in 246 strikes me as applying only to characters who had the opportunity to take the Ring: Elrond, Galadriel, Gandalf, Aragorn, and other members of the Fellowship. You can extend that by contact to virtually everyone who came into near proximity to Frodo (except the Nazgul), which would include even the Balrog and many Orcs, but I think Tolkien was only referring to those characters who specifically had the opportunity and awareness to take the Ring, which would have been very, very few and of them the four I name were the “most powerful” in some sense.
I’m dealing with some computer issues right now so I don’t have time to look up the passage I have in mind, although I know I have cited it before.
There’s a passage in one of the alternate re-tellings of the “Quest for Erebor” in Unfinished Tales where Gandalf admits to Gimli that even now, Gandalf was not telling all that he knew. I can’t help but wonder if that is true of Gandalf’s account of his confrontation with Saruman to the Council of Elrond.
It would have been natural, after all, for Gandalf to confront Saruman over his abandonment of the mission given them by Manwe, and his betrayal of the Valar. How could he defend that? How could he expect the Valar to forgive him? Saruman would likely have had some self-justifying logic to retort with, if he responded at all. But one would not expect Gandalf to mention such things openly before such a Council. Only to those in the West to whom he would report on his return would he speak openly of what transpired.
But it would be interesting to see how Tolkien might have reconstructed such a conversation.
You say:
“Armed with the power of the One Ring Saruman would easily have become the most powerful being in Middle-earth.”
Which is rather bold isn’t it? In Letter 246, where Mr T talks about if others took the One Ring, then who among them might hope to master Sauron. He says that:
“Of the others only Gandalf might be expected to master him – being an emissary of the Powers and a creature of the same order, an immortal spirit taking a visible physical form.”
If he thinks Gandalf might then, of course Saurman might be able to as well.
There is no emphasis in the above, but I think the word “might” is telling here. It is not clear whether Mr T is speaking of Gandalf the White or the Grey. Also in relation to Gandalf and Sauron being of the “same order”, another Letter 183 when speaking of Sauron he remarks that Sauron is:
“an immortal (angelic) spirit.*”
With the asterix linking to a note stating:
“Of the same kind as Gandalf and Saruman, but of a far higher order.”
I think he was thinking Gandalf the White personally.
I know Sauron was reduced, and whilst I think Saurman with the One Ring *might* have been able to take Sauron down, I don’t think there would be anything easy about it.
Indeed, I would maintain that even if Saruman (or Gandalf for that matter) took the One Ring and mastered it, I think the balance of power in such a scrap would remain with Sauron and in a “fair” fight Sauron would win and take back his ring from the smoking corpse of the foolish Istar.
My article assumes that Saruman would be able to master the One Ring in order to discuss what he could do with it. It would have been a huge tangent to get into whether he had the strength to control the One Ring (and I think anyone’s guess or reasoning would be as good as mine on that point).
I’m not sure anyone, Ainu or not, except maybe one of the Valar themselves, could have mastered the One Ring. As others have said, Sauron wasn’t stupid. The One was made by him, specifically for himself, and I would expect that he would have protected it in some way. Others might be able to use it, but so long as he existed, it would be directly linked to him, and their control would be limited to whatever powers he allowed to unauthorized users. In computer terms, he’d have Administrator privileges, and others would simply be low-level Users.
As you point out, in letter 246 Tolkien says, “Of the others only Gandalf might be expected to master him – being an emissary of the Powers and a creature of the same order, an immortal spirit taking a visible physical form.”
I’m honestly amazed by Tolkien’s statement, since I thought it was a major plot point in LotR that Sauron was afraid of Aragorn, especially the possibility that Aragorn would use the Ring against him.
When Gandalf discussed his generally strategy, he said, “Indeed he [Sauron] is in great fear, not knowing what mighty one may suddenly appear, wielding the Ring, and assailing him with war, seeking to cast him down and take his place” (LR, p. 497). To me, that passage does not convey the idea that Sauron is afraid of Gandalf and Saruman only.
Just before the seige of Gondor, Gandalf said, “I feel from afar his haste and fear. He has begun sooner than he would. Something happened to stir him” (p. 815). Gandalf inferred that Sauron’s haste was due to his fear of Aragorn. Aragorn seemed to agree: “To know that I lived and walked the earth was a blow to his heart, I deem; for he knew it not till now” (p. 780).
When describing the battle at Pelargir, Legolas said, “In that hour I looked on Aragorn and thought how great and terrible a Lord he might have become in the strength of his will, had he taken the Ring to himself. Not for naught does Mordor fear him” (p. 876).
During the Last Debate, Eomer asked, “Why should he [Sauron] think it not vain to assail us, if we have it [the Ring]?” Gandalf responded, “It can be used only by one master alone, not by many; and he will look for a time of strife, ere one of the great among us makes himself master and puts down the others. In that time the Ring might aid him, if were sudden” (p. 879). This passage gives me the impression that Gandalf believes that Sauron believes that there are a few people in Gondor that could master the Ring, and not Gandalf only.
When the Host of the West marched to the Gate of Morannon, it was in the name of King Elessar, not Gandalf.
Reading these passages, I had the strong impression that Aragorn and Gandalf were conspiring to make Sauron believe that Aragorn had claimed the Ring. But, if Aragorn could not possibly use the Ring to master Sauron, why should Sauron fear Aragorn? And shouldn’t Gandalf have suspected this, and instead tried to trick Sauron into thinking that it was Gandalf who had claimed the Ring, and not Aragorn?
Interesting thing you pointed out with Ar-Pharazon armies, that Sauron’s servants abandoned him (or at least part of them) but also in the same time we know it was calculated to some extent, Sauron knew that military power of Numenor was so great (and the abilities of numenoreans themselves, if later on Dunedain of Arnor were able to put some sort of spells on weapons maybe already in Numenor they could do some sort of widely understood ‘magic’, their mental powers, their great knowledge and skills, technical side of their armed forces would count too) that he was not certain of outcome so he planned the deception, he ”made no offer of battle” and started out his usual cunning, which seemed to be effective, people wondered at Sauron’s words and may have also been awed by his appearance, by his sheer magnificence, beautiful form of great strength of body and huge stature, partly veiled power, but I wonder whether in that encounter Sauron actually unveiled his might a bit yet posing as non-threatening to had bigger impact on people, from this sentence it seems as if he could talk whole armies into submission hehe (also the light of his eyes might help too heheh):
“Therefore he humbled himself before Ar-Pharazon and smoothed his tongue; and men wondered, for all that he said seemed fair and wise.” Here they come with intent of conquering or even destroying him and then voila all the hostility seems suddenly melting away :).
Anyway issue of control he had, it always seems that for Sauron to fully dominate and control his subjects requires for him to pay attention, to direct his thoughts towards them so when that will is removed from them they relapse into more independent state (like at Morannon). Ar-Pharazon also landed in Umbar and slowly went north to Mordor. So maybe those that abandoned Sauron were actually not fully controlled for some reason, either because keeping all the myriads of individuals that way is taxing and only a certain portion of total forces is under this power all the time or because Sauron withdrew his will to prepare for exerting it otherwise?
And the mind domination itself maybe there are certain levels of it, in some he maybe could practically mind control and manipulate a being like a puppet or commanding ‘telepathically’ and in other simple influence but indirect? What do you think about that?
The cases with palantiri involvement are very interesting, with Pippin it seems that Sauron actually did not intend with dominating the hobbit, he was more surprised and delighted in the same time, it was rather simple but very brief mental contact that was enough to cause a great strain on poor Pippin the first thing he did after recovering from shock was to repeat a command of Sauron in strange voice as if not his own and trying to flee like mad. Gandalf though claimed that if Sauron wished so he would have forced Pippin to tell everything but Sauron actually preferred to first get hobbit to Mordor and then start working on him, Denethor on the other hand never made direct contact with Sauron, Saruman certainly was in a way dominated through palantir though of course retained enough free will to scheme against Sauron and yet Dark Lord knew all about that :).
Also another question if the Ring helds major part of Sauron’s innate power, would it be possible to actually unlock Sauron’s abilities in other wearer? Well the Ring enhances natural powers and abilities of a wearer but if power of Maiar going by the most basic example of Balrog vs Gandalf fight is so destructive, that it caused explosive flashes of light, lightning-like effects (or straight out shooting lightning), burned and broken stone, whole huge structure of Durin’s Tower at the peak of mountain turned to dust and rubble, would someone else who would be sufficiently strong to master the Ring not being a Maiar himself be able to access such abilities as Sauron possessed or could have possessed? Manipulating weather, sorcery (though it is also said that some of mortals can ‘learn’ and use black arts of sorcery and necromancy without the need for such trinkets like Rings of Power though that is another matter, hmm generally Tolkien envisioned magic as exerting natural power inside one’s being but maybe some special knowledge too is required? The knowledge itself does not grant power but it allows to learn how to use amount of power in one’s spirit?) other vague things, we know that Sauron was able to exert his power in various ways, the indestructible foundation of Barad-dur (the statement that they were made with the power of the Ring even though fortress was begun earlier than forging the Ring can be reconciled with), Orodruin teeming with Sauron’s power enough so other magic artifacts lost theirs in there and controlling it’s fires and activity. Certainly the power of domination, preservation, understanding tongues or understanding overall, are the most important examples of Ring’s power, there appears also that Ring can allow a bearer to gain better insight into things when put mind to study them (power of understanding? Enhancing mental faculties?). Could the One Ring be used in such way like the Three to create such isles of timelessness or for healing (well at least it is implied that the Three grant powers of ‘understanding, making and healing, to preserve all things unstained’ or simply because of connection with other rings, their powers would be accessible to wearer of the One?
So, from the character’s perspective, Saruman believed he could master the One Ring. It really doesn’t matter if he had deceived himself about that or not. His motivations and strategies were based on that belief.
From the author’s perspective, a lot of characters had to believe they could use the One Ring in order for it to be a threat to both them personally and the rest of Middle-earth (in their hands). It still should not matter if they really could use it. It was dangerous for any of them to seek to use it.
If Gandalf could have mastered the One Ring then Saruman probably could have as well. Neither test was something that Tolkien had to resolve as a story-teller because it simply did not fall out that way. He did not address the question definitively but I think that to assume Saruman was completely incapable of controlling the Ring undermines the character’s place in the story.
It is the element of uncertainty about who really could control the Ring that makes it so dangerous, and it was that uncertainty itself which led Gandalf to conclude that it must be destroyed because he didn’t just fear Sauron’s recovering the Ring, he feared someone else learning to use it to replace Sauron.
As Gandalf did not know whether anyone other than Sauron actually could control the Ring, neither can we. We are left with our opinions and guesses, which can never be proven right or wrong (unless some previously unpublished text comes to light in which Tolkien lays all this doubt to rest).